- Thanks to Trade Coffee for sponsoring this video,
and supporting my channel.
In a couple of my recent videos, I've mentioned
that I spend time every single morning reading.
And recently, I've gotten back into the habit
of taking detailed notes
when what I'm reading is non-fictional.
Now, I found that this is a habit that is tough
to stay in and easy to fall out of,
because taking detailed notes on what you read
requires effort and self-discipline.
Especially given the fact that I no longer have
any exams or professors forcing me to do so.
It's just something that I want to do.
But that being said, taking notes on what I read
is an incredibly useful habit to be in.
So today, I want to share how I take notes
from non-fiction books.
I'm gonna give you the details of my system,
talk a little bit about how I decide what to record
versus what not to record,
and hopefully give you some ideas
about how can take notes on the books that you read.
Whether they're assigned in class,
or just books that interest you.
And my system breaks down into a four step process,
read, highlight, record and synthesize.
And we're gonna start off with the reading part.
Now, since this is a video on note taking
you might think we could just skip past this part
and go straight to highlighting.
But you know what they say, garbage in, garbage out.
And in this case I'm not talking about garbage books per se,
but rather about garbage comprehension.
Because if I'm reading in a way
that doesn't promote good comprehension,
I'm not going to be able to take good notes.
So this part of the process is just as important
as the note taking process.
When I read I'm trying to promote
the best possible comprehension.
So I read in the morning, which is what I found
to be the best time of the day for me
to engage with the material and stay focused.
And if I need to I will move around my office.
If I'm sitting in my chair and it's
a little bit too relaxing,
I'm getting a little bit too day-dreamy,
I will sometimes pace around the office while holding
the book and still reading it.
Or sometimes I'll sit on the floor just
to get into a different position.
All right, step two in the process is to highlight,
which I actually do simultaneously while I read.
I keep a pen with me, which I use to star areas
in the margins that I want talk draw my eye to later on
when I'm actually taking my notes.
And yes, I actually do write in the margins of my book,
and I will also underline key terms,
so I can further draw my eye
to exactly what the idea was.
Now if you don't want to write in the margins,
number one, you could just get eBooks,
'cause the Kindle app and the iBooks app,
and basically every electronic app out there
will let you create little highlights.
Personally, I like to write in physical books better.
And then there are also these little book flags.
So these things can non-destructively allow you
to mark places in a book.
And there are many different colors,
so you can use one for say, quotes,
one for just interesting things.
And on that note, I actually have a system
of symbols that I use.
So I use stars for general highlights
that I want to draw my eye to later on,
and then I use Ex, for examples.
So in a book if there's an example
that is backing up a main point that I want to remember
I'll mark that with an Ex.
I use the letter F for further reading.
So if a book is mentioning say, another author
or a book that they draw inspiration from,
or maybe just a paper, I'll put an F there,
so I can remember to follow up and maybe check
that out later on.
Q is for quotes.
Now when I go and I write my notes I generally try
to put the notes in my own words,
as much as I possibly can.
But sometimes there's a great quote,
and I want to remember it exactly as it was stated,
so I use a Q for that.
I'll use question marks if there's a passage
in a book that I disagree with, or that confuses me.
That will allow me to dig in and maybe try
to verify a claim, see if I was wrong,
or if the author was wrong.
And finally, sometimes I will write actual notes
in the margin of the book.
These will not be lengthy, but occasionally,
I really want to get something out of my head
that relates to a specific area on a page.
So I'll just write a little margin note
that kind of primes me to elaborate on that point
a bit more when I'm doing the actual recording.
And that happens in the recording stage,
which is the third step of the process.
So once I'm done reading and highlighting a chapter,
I will sit down at my desk, I'll go back through the chapter
and I'm gonna use my highlights and my margin symbols
to guide my eye to what I want to take notes on.
And I take notes in an app called Roam Research
putting the in an outline style.
Now what I like about Roam,
and I made a video about this tool very recently,
is that I can very easily make links
to any other page I have just by putting brackets
around a term, or by using a hashtag to use a tag.
They're kind of the exact same in Roam.
So if I have say a Q somewhere, I know that's a quote.
I will put that quote in my notes,
and I'll give it the quotes tag,
so I can easily look up quotes later on.
Or if there is something that refers back
to a page that I've already taken notes on, say caffeine,
I can easily put brackets around the word caffeine,
and link to my caffeine page.
And over time this creates this interconnected web
of knowledge that kind of represents the way
that knowledge is organized in the brain.
And I do have to note that right now Roam Research
is in closed beta with a wait list.
And there are details about that I can put
in the description down below,
I'm not gonna fill up too much time with them.
But the gist here is that other than that linking system
you can recreate these outline style notes
in basically any other note-taking app.
The main idea is I'm writing down what I highlighted,
so I'm interacting with the material one more time.
And step four here, I'm synthesizing it.
So this is the last step in the process where I'm trying
to find a way to connect the information I've
just learned and recorded, to what I already know.
Or otherwise finding a way to utilize it,
to wrangle with it, to kind of retrieve it,
have to work with it.
So one thing that I will do is I'll write my own thoughts
in my notes in italics.
If there is a point that I have a little bit
of my own input on, I will put that right in the notes,
right under my recording of the point.
And this helps me to connect my own ideas
and things I already know from other sources,
to what I've just read.
I'm building more pathways to it,
and I'm more likely to remember it long term.
And if you want to see an example of how I take these notes,
and how I go about this process of synthesizing
what I've learned, and connecting it
to my own thoughts and opinions,
I just recently finished reading
the book "Hyperfocus," by my friend Chris Bailey,
very good book, and I took very detailed notes
on this book, which I have posted on my website.
And I'll have that link in the description down below.
But one last thing that I would like to note here
is that this entire note-taking process,
especially the part where I'm adding in
my own thoughts and opinions,
and using the little question mark symbol
to mark spots where I have a disagreement,
is kind of an embodiment
of my absolute favorite quote by Bruce Lee.
Which goes like this, "Adapt what is useful,
"reject what is useless,
and add what is specifically your own."
That is exactly how I try to go about the learning process,
and how I think you should, as well.
Now, if you'll excuse me I've got some more reading
to go do, which also means that's it time
to brew a fresh cup of coffee.
And luckily, I've got some brand new beans
to try thanks to Trade Coffee.
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And for me, making coffee is one
of my favorite parts of the day.
But when it comes to my knowledge of coffee I would say
that I know enough to be dangerous.
I know a little bit about the different roast types,
and I at least grind my own beans at home.
But it still seems that whenever I want
to try something new and I grab something random off
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This B-roll set up was a lot of work.
All right, time for a taste test.
(slow, flowing piano music)
(chuckles) Okay yeah, that's good.
So if you want to try some great new coffee
and support my channel, then give Trade a try using
the link in the description down below.
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All right guys, that is it,
so hopefully you enjoyed the video,
and thank you so much for watching.
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It's kind of hard to talk when I'm bending over
and basically breaking my spine right now.
But look how much effort I'm putting in for you.
There's also more videos in this channel,
so check them out right here, or here.
As always, smashing your face through the phone screen
is more effective than using your fingers or thumbs.
So do that, or don't, 'cause as always, I'm not your dad.